Reply by Brandon

Dallas, what has worked well in the past is to give a theme for each of the tool swaps, because it makes it a lot of fun to compare the diverse approaches to a single tool. Plus, if we base the swap on a tool genre each time, then the people that are in need of that tool or interested in signing up can participate, whereas in a random swap a person might get something they have no interest in or might not be as commensurate with the tool they built for someone else.

Shane, a wooden plane, especially in the Krenov style, is much easier than it sounds. I would put it on par with a decent mallet in terms of construction difficulty. I’m actually a little more intimidated by the square tool myself.

It does suck when someone doesn’t follow through, but in the past the response from the other participants has, I think, more than made up for that. We have a great bunch of people here. Of course, if someone hasn’t followed through with their promise to send a tool, then anathema to them!